Machine stitches on silk.

Just trying out the decorative stitches on my sewing machine on some silk scraps.
I should have hung this rather than just put it on the table to take its picture!

Nearly finished

This is what I have been beavering away at for the last few weeks. It is made from strips of silk , satin, and velvet and I have been experimenting with lots of different methods of quilting on it. The metallic fabrics and threads make it look very rich but it really is just lots of small scraps! It just needs blocking and binding now.

I was going to add beads but now I think that the metallics add enough sparkle.

Sew-outs.

Way back in 1999 when I got my first embroidery machine I did loads of stitch-outs of various designs whilst I experimented with threads and stabilizers. Later when I started digitising my own designs I used to do trial stitch-outs to see if my ideas would work.

Of course after using up thread and fabric I couldn't just bin them so they got integrated into my stash.

Here I have used some of these trial runs to jazz up some plain material for more bags. At least they won't be mistaken for anyone else's bag ! :o)


The squares below are all stitched out on different silk remnants. They just asked to be stitched together but I am not sure where I go with them now?
Maybe I should have sashed them or alternated them with plain squares, or embroidered some more to make something bigger. I don't really fancy unpicking them as the silk frays so badly (or so well? )

They will probably hibernate back into the stitch-out box until inspiration strikes. At the moment all I can think of is a humbug shaped cushion or the top of a pretty bag to store something in?

Remember that silk quilt---?

Well I have just heard that it has won Third Prize ! What a great start to the year.
:o)

Now the judging is over I can show the full quilt. Unfortunately the crystals aren't showing up too well. I think when it comes home I might add more beading to it?

I made it to enter into a Machine Embroidered Quilt competition that was run by Flair magazine. My prize is Madeira threads which is great as I am a self confessed thread junkie.

I particularly enjoyed making this quilt. I think the combination of working with silk,favourite colours and patterns may have had something to do with it


I called it Crazy Paisley!

Those silk bits!

Remember those silk snips that I had left over? Well this is what they were left over from!This is still a WIP (Work in Progress) and the deadline for the competition is looming very close. It is mainly silk applique and embroidery all done on on the Bernina 200e.

The shot silk used as the main fabric is lovely to work with and is really coming into its own as I begin to quilt. At some angles it is raspberry pink and at others a really deep purple so the relationship with the colour of the appliqued shapes changes constantlyThe Paisley patterned shapes have extra wadding behind them and initially I will just quilt around them.

I am not sure yet what the rest of the quilting will be like. I have an idea but will need to test it out first.

Embroidery

I have been collecting different coloured silk fabric for some time with the vague intention of making a machine embroidered silk quilt. Over the years since I got my Bernina software I have digitised quite a lot of designs and I am wondering if I can adapt some of these into patterns for a quilt or whether I it will be better to start from scratch with some totally new ones.

Apparently if the silk is washed gently in shampoo, or mild detergent ,before use the finished item will be washable too.

I hope that is true!!!!